--- title: Chicago Looting: Inequality Has Pushed City to Brink description: The situation in Chicago did not come out of nowhere. It is the result of decades of choices about who matters in the eyes of the government. canonical: https://time.com/5880232/chicago-looting-inequality/ author: Mikki Kendall article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-08-17T18:42:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:49:07.475Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why the Unrest in Chicago Has Been Decades in the Making og:description: What did city and state official think would happen? og:url: https://time.com/5880232/chicago-looting-inequality/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07cc9f5ffbe29246/698a1167096a9422866a8881/chicago-inequality-law-enforcement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: chicago-inequality-law-enforcement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why the Unrest in Chicago Has Been Decades in the Making twitter:description: What did city and state official think would happen? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07cc9f5ffbe29246/698a1167096a9422866a8881/chicago-inequality-law-enforcement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why the Unrest in Chicago Has Been Decades in the Making > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=db347c9c-26ff-4207-b839-611a33cf6af3&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | Subscribers | Open rate | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | 540,000 | 45.6% | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 430,000 | 50.7% | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Daily | 240,000 | 54.1% | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 40,000 | 31.7% | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | 85,000 | 37.0% | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | 40,000 | 34.2% | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | 25,000 | 28.6% | Source: TIME, August 2026. Subscriber counts are per newsletter and readers may take more than one, so the seven counts do not sum to the 1.1 million+ unique newsletter audience. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Highest open rate | 54.1%, Health Matters | TIME, August 2026 | | Largest list | 540,000, The Brief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=db347c9c-26ff-4207-b839-611a33cf6af3&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=db347c9c-26ff-4207-b839-611a33cf6af3&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (daily health), Worth Your Time (culture, twice weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Mikki Kendall](https://time.com/author/mikki-kendall/) ## Mikki Kendall Aug 17, 2020 6:42 PM UTC  Protesters and Chicago Police clash during protests following the killing of George Floyd on May 30 in Chicago Protesters and Chicago Police clash during protests following the killing of George Floyd on May 30 in Chicago Natasha Moustache—Getty Images by [Mikki Kendall](https://time.com/author/mikki-kendall/) ## Mikki Kendall Aug 17, 2020 6:42 PM UTC It’s been a summer of unrest in Chicago. The [homicide rate](https://time.com/5870962/federal-officers-crime-chicago/) spiked. Protesters have clashed with law enforcement. There’s been [looting.](https://time.com/5878688/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-looting/) There’s been [violence.](https://time.com/5757773/inner-city-gun-violence/) At least once Mayor Lori Lightfoot described the actions of demonstrators as [“anarchy.”](https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/07/20/violence-takes-over-columbus-demonstration-thats-not-peaceful-protest-thats-anarchy/) But what did city and state officials think would happen? You can’t slowly build a powder keg and then be surprised when it explodes. As someone who grew up on Chicago’s South Side, graduated from Chicago Public Schools and lived in the city most of my life, I’m certainly not. Chicago remains one of the most [segregated metropolitan areas in the U.S](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/segregation-us-cities/), and the South and West Sides, where residents are mostly Black, have faced a decades of neglect and police brutality. A 2018 analysis found that about [72% of victims of use of force by Chicago police](https://static.theintercept.com/amp/chicago-police-misconduct-racial-disparity.html) from 2005 to 2015 were Black. During the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment has reached [more than 30% in certain neighborhoods.](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/05/upshot/us-unemployment-maps-coronavirus.html) Meanwhile, Chicago’s Black residents have died of COVID [at a disproportionately higher rate](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/black-chicagoans-covid-19-high-death-rate-system-of-neglect/) than its white ones. Budget shortfalls are frequently cited when anyone complains about inequality in Chicago schools, transit and every other city service, but how the money is allocated is a reflection of priorities. [More than a month after the schools were closed by COVID-19](https://www.wbez.org/stories/five-weeks-after-in-person-school-shut-down-only-half-of-cps-kids-who-need-a-computer-have-one/c67f9add-4ca6-4903-9dda-2f980deb37b9), the city had not yet figured out how to ensure all public school students could continue their learning. In July the city [cut funds to a high-performing childcare center](https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/07/07/with-city-funding-cut-englewood-day-care-center-battles-to-reopen-youre-taking-away-a-safe-haven/) in Englewood, a neighborhood that lacks options for working parents and their children. In the middle of a pandemic with a deficit in hospital beds, the state [legislature failed to approve funds for a plan intended to keep four hospitals open on the city’s South Side](https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/05/27/1-billion-south-side-hospital-consolidation-fizzles-after-legislature-fails-to-approve-funding/). Meanwhile, an analysis by the nonprofit journalism organization Injustice Watch found that police spending per capita has [nearly tripled](https://www.injusticewatch.org/data/2020/chicago-has-nearly-tripled-per-capita-police-spending-since-1964-data-show/) in the last 40 years. [According to U.S. News, ](https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2020-06-11/how-much-the-10-largest-us-cities-spend-on-police)Chicago spends $660 per capita, second only to New York’s $671, whereas Los Angeles spends $436, Houston spends $403 and Phoenix spends $429\. This figure is alarming given the falling crime rates in the city since the ‘90s, the [low clearance rates](https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/2/7/21126939/chicago-police-department-homicide-clearance-improvement-turnaround-analysis-ccx) for criminal cases and the [high cost ](https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/09/04/police-lawsuit-settlement-cost/)of officer misconduct lawsuits. Besides, if Chicago were serious about ending violence, one way to show it would be to actually fund the Cook County [witness protection program](https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/07/29/witness-protection-needs-to-be-funded-if-chicago-cook-county-want-to-end-gun-violence-activists-say/), so that those able to testify against criminals would feel safer doing so.  Bridges across the Chicago river are raised to control access into downtown as widespread looting broke out in the city on August 10 Scott Olson—Getty Images While Mayor Lightfoot has talked about the importance of [ending poverty](https://www.chicagoreporter.com/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-says-shes-ending-poverty-in-a-generation-is-it-possible/) and reducing gun violence, she has [defended the police](https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/lightfoot-defends-top-cops-controversial-plan-to-curb-fourth-of-july-weekend-violence/) again and again this summer even as residents act in desperation. For just one example of the skewed priorities of Chicago politicians, consider what happened this month after hundreds of people looted the city’s Magnificent Mile. Mayor Lightfoot [restricted access to the Loop](https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/08/14/in-lori-lightfoots-chicago-bridges-have-become-barricades/), the city’s downtown area, by ordering river bridges raised. She did this previously in the [days after George Floyd’s death](https://www.chicagobusiness.com/government/lightfoot-locks-down-loop-after-looting-fires-rip-downtown) when downtown businesses were looted and vandalized, [calling in the Illinois National Guard as well](https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/05/31/chicago-calls-in-national-guard-after-night-of-protests-damage-downtown/). Yet there’s been no such mobilization to make other areas safer [despite shootings happening all over the city](https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2020/8/17/21369610/chicago-weekend-shootings-gun-violence-homicide-august-14-17-2020). The message is clear: The windows in downtown Chicago are more important than the children at risk of violence from gangs and police. Many have argued that [looting](https://time.com/5851111/protests-looting/) is not the solution, that it could undermine legitimate protests and reduce sympathy for the very real issues. But at some point, there must be space to demand accountability for the ways that the city redirects tax dollars away from the places with the greatest need. [Corporations rarely pay taxes,](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-corporate/many-big-u-s-corporations-pay-very-little-in-taxes-study-idUSBREA1P04Q20140226) but the residents of neighborhoods often decried as the most violent pay a [proportionally higher property tax rate](https://apps.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/cook-county-property-tax-divide/assessments.html) and get less for their funds than other communities in the city. Chicago’s misuse of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds has also had serious consequences for marginalized communities. While the money is supposed to be earmarked for things like infrastructure improvements and revitalizing commercial strips in underserved communities, it is instead doled out in ways that make [already well-off parts of the city even more valuable](https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/07/24/navy-pier-tif-money-diverted/). Apparently, looting is a legal Chicago pastime when it comes to tax revenues. At the end of July, President Trump [announced a surge in law enforcement ](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-operation-legend-combatting-violent-crime-american-cities/)as part of what he called [Operation LeGend](https://time.com/5871348/trump-federal-deployment-chicago-violence/). “For those people in Chicago and other cities where we’ll be: Help is on its way,” he said. This is not the help we need. But I suppose it’s easier to send in officers with weapons to try to control the Black and brown people who live there than to ensure their health, safety and financial well-being. What’s happening in Chicago is what happens when people are pushed to the brink. Violence is an epidemic in the city, a [public health emergency](https://time.com/5866776/gun-violence-covid/) that politicians refuse to address in any meaningful way. Just as we should pay attention to science when it comes to fighting the coronavirus, we should follow the advice of the experts when it comes to reducing gun violence. And research has found that it is done with [investment in low-income neighborhoods](https://www.aau.edu/research-scholarship/featured-research-topics/how-can-cities-reduce-gun-violence-invest-low-income). The situation in Chicago did not come out of nowhere. It is the result of decades of choices about who matters in the eyes of those who control resources. If you continually deprive people of the ability to fulfill even the basic needs of their families, what do you really expect? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5880232/chicago-looting-inequality/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5880232/chicago-looting-inequality/"},"headline":"Why the Unrest in Chicago Has Been Decades in the Making","datePublished":"2020-08-17T18:42:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:49:07.475Z","description":"The situation in Chicago did not come out of nowhere. It is the result of decades of choices about who matters in the eyes of the government.","url":"https://time.com/5880232/chicago-looting-inequality/","keywords":["feature"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07cc9f5ffbe29246/698a1167096a9422866a8881/chicago-inequality-law-enforcement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mikki Kendall","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/mikki-kendall/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07cc9f5ffbe29246/698a1167096a9422866a8881/chicago-inequality-law-enforcement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"chicago-inequality-law-enforcement","caption":"Protesters and Chicago Police clash during protests following the killing of George Floyd on May 30 in Chicago","creditText":"Natasha Moustache—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5880232/chicago-looting-inequality/","name":"Why the Unrest in Chicago Has Been Decades in the Making"}}]}] ```